BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $46.97 and last traded at $46.7950, with a volume of 176707 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BKU. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

BankUnited Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.11. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 13.98%.The firm had revenue of $275.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 34.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,356,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 575,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,495,000 after purchasing an additional 113,974 shares during the period. Bayview Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 40,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in BankUnited by 57.1% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 621,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,122,000 after acquiring an additional 225,867 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.